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 A blog on fantasy themes in Heavy Metal music
One of the staples of Heavy Metal is the Fantasy theme, whether it be power metal bands like Edguy and Helloween, Symphonic Metal bands like Nightwish, or classic metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas priest, the idea of slaying a dragon with a sword has always had an appeal. I often hear this referred to as “Dungeons and Dragons Metal.” However, the one thing that bands that I have just listed have going for them is the concept of metaphor, as well as the ability to expand their lyrical content. Ronnie James Dio is probably the King of this. Sure he’s singing about a demon named “Holy Diver,” but it doesn’t take a far stretch of the imagination to see that the story of the song is an analogy for society and religion. Iron Maiden may have songs about sword fighting, but they also often tackle the more complex theme modern warfare head on. However, not all Heavy Metal bands are able to successfully walk this fine line of a Fantasy and reality co-existence. Often a time the lyricist and the image of the band end up being swallowed by medieval and sword fighting imagery that it’s hard to imagine just what the point the band is trying to make anymore. Take a band like Rhapsody of Fire. Almost all of the songs from this band are Fantasy based. In fact, all of their albums are actually just part of one giant Fantasy epic. Now I actually like Rhapsody of Fire, and I think they are good musicians. I also have to admit, that I find the whole Fantasy themed storyline albums to be a cool concept. What I’m worried about is what happens when the story is over? What will Rhapsody of Fire do next? Another multi-album Fantasy epic? I suppose they could, but the concept of “redundancy” and “overplay” comes to mind. Another concept that comes to mind that is a bit frightening for a band is that of self-stereotyping. If the band is completely dedicated to only doing the Fantasy theme for the rest of their music careers, then all to them. But if the band ever wants to change directions and themes in the future they may be in for big problems. The fans have loved and accepted the band as it is, which is basically a single Fantasy themed endeavor. If the band was to go away from this theme, there’s a good chance that a large amount of the fans would go away too. We all remember when Metallica went Alternative. Hell, even Edguy, whose new album is still a Metal album as far as I’m concerned, has gotten a backlash from their fans for not being “Power Metal enough” on their new album. When I think of bands that were able to successfully move back in forth between themes and sounds, it was those bands that always had a wide variety of themes in their music when they first started. Iron Maiden have made Fantasy themed concept albums (Seventh Son of a Seventh Son), but they have also released albums with war and social themes with a great amount of success. I think this is because Iron Maiden has never put themselves out as a one dimensional unit, which only deals with Fantasy topics and the such, so that when a change did come, it was more accepted by the audience. The same can be said for Ronnie James Dio. While he does have many Fantasy themed lyrics, he has always has been forward in stating that all of his lyrics are multilayered and metaphoric for issues in the real world. In end, a Fantasy theme is a cool thing, but just as a good song needs it in its composition, a good band needs balance. -Awesome McCrunchFist Here are some Rhapsody of Fire music videos as posted on YouTube:
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